Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Monday said she may move to force a vote on impeaching President Biden over the situation at the southern border this week, a threat that comes as the president prepares to roll out a highly anticipated executive order that would crack down on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Greene told reporters Monday evening that she was going to move to force a vote on her articles of impeachment that night, but decided to hold off to first talk to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.). She warned, however, that she may trigger the resolution later this week.
“Right here, privileged resolution of impeachment,” Greene told reporters, dangling the articles. “I can force a vote this week. But you know what, I was gonna do it tonight but I decided I’m gonna go talk to our Republican elected Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, that I actually voted for that claims he supports Trump, and ask him if he’s gonna do something about it.”
Pressed on what would happen if Johnson declined to put the articles of impeachment on the floor for a vote, Greene said she would force a vote.
“I’ll just drop them on the floor and then we can vote and see where everybody stands,” she told reporters. “I’m mad. I didn’t come up here to hang out with everybody and go ‘oh, hey, guys.’ I mean, my people at home are mad. Everybody across this country are furious. We don’t want a banana republic — we want an actual legitimate government. We want a real justice system. We don’t have one right now.”
Greene could call her impeachment resolution as early as Tuesday, after which leadership would have two legislative days to stage a vote on the measure. It is likely, however, that the chamber would vote on a motion to table the resolution or refer it to committee — which was the case last June, when Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) forced a vote on her resolution impeaching Biden over the border.
The threat by Greene came the day before Biden is expected to sign an executive order that would shut down asylum requests at the border if the average number of daily encounters reaches 2,500 at ports of entry.
It’s a plan that closely mirrors a policy first floated in legislation from a bipartisan group of senators that was negotiated with the White House. Conservatives quickly sank the bill.
It also follows accusations from some Republicans that Biden should use his executive authority to enact tougher policies at the border, though it’s unclear whether the move is lawful and immigration rights groups have pledged to sue.
The move comes as the border continues to dominate conversations on the campaign trail, with voters saying it is one of their top issues in the lead-up to the November elections.
Republicans have slammed Biden’s reported plans to issue an executive order, arguing that he is acting for political reasons. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on “Fox News Sunday” called the planned move “too little too late.”
Greene’s resolution reads much like an earlier resolution crafted to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas — another effort the GOP struggled to pass, though it eventually succeeded.
The legislation accuses Biden of violating his oath of office and failing to follow immigration laws.
It’s an argument that comes with many of the same pitfalls as the Mayorkas impeachment articles.
Like with Mayorkas, the resolution accuses Biden of failing to maintain operational control of the border. But the law cited in the bill, the Secure Fence Act, set a standard of perfection that no president or Homeland Security secretary has met – determining compliance to be met only when no person or contraband illegally crosses the border.
Greene’s resolution also takes issue with Biden’s approach to immigration in general, saying he’s violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) both with his policies and by failing to detain all migrants who cross the border.
But no president has ever detained all migrants that cross the border as the U.S. simply does not have the capacity to do so. And immigration law experts previously countered claims that Biden administration policies violated the INA, determining that the administration’s policies were within the bounds of the law.
Greene nonetheless writes that Biden has “failed to enact policies and has created an environment of lawlessness to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.”
“President Biden has created a national security crisis and is endangering the lives of everyday Americans with his open borders policies,” the resolution states.
If Greene follows through on triggering a vote on her impeachment resolution, it would mark the second time this Congress that the House was forced to weigh in on articles of impeachment against Biden in a hasty fashion.
Boebert forced a vote on her resolution to impeach Biden over his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border and immigration policy. The House ultimately voted to refer the resolution to the Judiciary and Homeland Security committees, sidestepping a direct vote on the charges against the president.
Boebert’s move, however, emerged as a point of contention in the bitter relationship between her and Greene. The Daily Beast reported at the time that Greene had accused Boebert of copying her articles of impeachment against Biden. Boebert approached Greene over those statements amid votes, and at one point, Greene called Boebert a “little b—-,” according to the report.
Greene later confirmed the conversation and said The Daily Beast’s story was “impressively correct.”